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Servicing Tuition at The Piste Office - a review

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Thought it useful to post up a bit of a report, what to expect, and so that I have a thread to ask stupid questions that are almost inevitable now we have descended into the dark and murky world of ski servicing and tuning.

On Saturday we hopped in the car and headed to The Piste Office, a workshop in the Nottinghamshire countryside where Jon Coster does his thing. http://www.jonsskituning.co.uk/

The day started in typically relaxed fashion about 1pm, with discussion about all manner of Snowheads stuff, a few interesting insider bits of info from the ski industry and general catch up as we'd not seen Jon since the EoSB in April.

For those who haven't met Jon, he is one of us. He has been a Snowhead for some years now, and comes on bashes and freely shares his knowledge and helps people out - another reason why we chose to spend the afternoon with him, we like businesses which put something into a community like this and who get our sense of humour Smile

The actual servicing/tuning bit

Jon breaks down servicing and tuning into fairly straightforward steps. We started with base angles, cleaning up the base edge, and some basic theory on why the angle is what it is etc. Everything was quite sensibly demonstrated and then we did it. Jon explains why he uses various tools, and what you are doing when you use them. The whole process is detailed on his website http://www.jonsskituning.co.uk/content/category/5/14/34/ but a lot of what is being taught is the feel of things. Feeling when something is sharp, how hard or soft to do things, and Jon is very good at explaining that kind of stuff face to face.

Personally I think the way the website lays it out is very good, but really it is a reminder or material from the course, and doesn't really replace the hands on bit. I am sure some people will advocate just having a go at it, and indeed damaging our ex-demo cheap skis wouldn't have been a major issue, but in reality the cost is so small that you might as well do it.

We move on from base angles and cleaning up to the side angles. This is where the little details come in handy from Jon, being able to discuss what angle we should use, how to check what is there at the moment, what the factory angle should be, why the factory angle might not be what we want, and lots of other little bits that would take hours to try and read through and digest.

We get handed all the tools we need, with a bit of explanation on why we need each one, and again Jon demonstrates how we should be doing it, and we can copy it and get it right. Luckily we are clever little campers, and ski servicing really isn't anywhere near as complicated as the 25-odd euro price tag suggests, so we are soon on to melting things.

Next up is repairing bases. Jon goes through the wax candle option, demonstrates, we have a go, and I manage to play with something which is actively on fire without hurting myself or anyone else. Then he tells us what the other types of repairs look like with some real examples, shows us some fancy equipment, and then we have a go with the soldering iron repair thingy. I brought my most knackered pair of skis along, and as a byproduct of the servicing bit we got to repair the bases and get them back to top condition again. Similarly, knowing what is worth repairing and what should be left is a matter of look and feel, something else gained from the course when previously we'd have sent skis in to be repaired or bases ground at a local shop.

We make fast progress and get ready for the bit which I thought was going to be the complicated and messy bit. Ironing.

The skis move over to the waxing bench, with the irons all set up and ready for trouble. Soon Jon demonstrates with ease exactly how much wax to put on a ski. I decide that more wax is a good idea, and chuck a load of it all over the things. As above, there are a few things in the process that you really need to do to understand. And probably to be any good at. Mrs MP demonstrates her capability with an iron by getting it right, I of course now have about half an inch of wax to shuffle about the place, dripping on the pristine workbench, and once I have made a good old fashioned mess with hot wax we let it dry so I can make some more mess scraping it all off all over the shop.

It should be noted that Jon keeps his place very clean, a sign of a good workshop, and I delight in spreading wax shavings pretty much all over the place. Jon is evidently used to this and follows me around with a brush Smile

After scraping we get into brushing, which is remarkably straightforward really, and we are a few hours and several cups of coffee down the road when the skis (and indeed the course) is done. Jon covered everything we needed to know, explained why he did everything he did, and we both now are confident enough to have a go at our skis without being worried about damaging them or ruining how they get down the mountain.

So, was it any good?

I would reccomend this to anyone looking for a way to keep up skiing related activities over the summer, and as we have something like 5 or 6 pairs of skis between us I reckon we are going to save the cost of the course and materials within our first season, and obviously we have already saved the cost of servicing two pairs of skis. Jon is naturally much less busy over the summer, and getting his undivided attention for a whole afternoon helps in making quick progress and being able to ask lots of questions etc, so worth getting there over the next couple of months if you can and doing a session with him. Anyone with their own skis will save money doing it, it is just a matter of time, and having some control over how your skis work is a useful thing - we've all come out of the shop with a pair of skis that were almost unrecognisable from them before.

Footnote: Jon runs a business selling servicing stuff and servicing skis for people. Interesting for us was that the course was a standalone offering including good advice on how to save money on things that he could have sold to us during the course. He didn't push products that he sold other than when asked by us, and just offered advice like a friend who does their own servicing, not as a someone trying to sell lots of stuff. This is a big thing for me, because I hate being sold to or feeling any obligation to buy from someone without doing some research first - largely because I do plenty enough selling myself. Now having come away from the course we can work out what we need, work out what we want, and buy the bits we need from his website. I was worried that we'd end up doing the course, and then spending £500 on stuff we might not need as a result. Luckily servicing kit is much cheaper than that, but also we got more advice on how to save money than to spend it from Jon.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
So, first stupid tuning question: Currently looking at this kit, which has most of the same stuff we used on Saturday, and since we have a fairly well equipped workshop already don't need to worry about vices and stuff yet. http://www.jonsskituning.co.uk/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,90/category_id,11/manufacturer_id,0/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,1/

Suggestions on whether this is a good start point, what else I should be looking at? What bits in the kit don't I need? I know that I need some kind of iron, will treat that as a separate thing and probably a separate thread at some point in the coming months.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Yep, that'll do it Toofy Grin
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
When it does come to vices, I can recommend the Jaws of Beast ski vice set
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Mistress Panda, thanks for writing this up. MatWall and I are signed up for the course in September.

I clearly don't have your skills in "not spending money with Jon" tho. I keep ending up sighing and saying, "Yeah, ok, go on then. You already have my credit card details."
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
Maireadoconnor, Cool Toofy Grin
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
My top tips are do not scrimp on the vices or iron, I went away without them only to be ringing Jon up the following week and ordering them having tried to muddle through without!

My best new toy from Jon now though is the super whizzy brush Cool
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
look after your files and ensure they dont get damaged by unprepared edges, ALWAYS clean up with stones before using metal files. Jons course was great (did it myself a few years ago) and do a lot of tuning and dont be afraid to take off a fair amount of edge material. I find most people don't get their edges sharp as they dont remove enough side edge. Top tip get a fine file and use after your medium, a few light passes with a shapr fine file will really give you a good edge to then polish with your diamond files Wink
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 You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
During this years EOSB Schuss in Boots and I were talking and she mentioned that spyderjon's ski tuning course was well worth doing. Hearing her talk so highly of the course I was certain that I would make it across to the UK before the S11BB and squeeze in a visit to The Piste Office.

Finally, I had the pleasure of having a ski tuning session with Jon last week. I can't really add anything extra to what Mistress Panda mentions above, except to formally pass on my gratitude to spyderjon for his time and expertise.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at The Piste Office and would recommend his ski tuning session to anyone who owns their own ski's.
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
WeiB.beer, Glad you enjoyed it Very Happy With your new found knowledge I hope you didn't look back on the waxing party and spot my deliberate mistakes wink Toofy Grin
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Schuss in Boots wrote:
WeiB.beer, Glad you enjoyed it Very Happy With your new found knowledge I hope you didn't look back on the waxing party and spot my deliberate mistakes wink Toofy Grin


Talking of deliberate mistakes, i'm sure Jon missed out the particular lubrication stage you enjoyed most, I think it was called the "gin stage" Laughing Laughing

I'm looking forward to sharing a few drinky-poos with yourself and Mark in Arabba!
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
WeiB.beer, Laughing Laughing Yup, that spyderjon only does half a job wink Toofy Grin Likewise, roll on Arabba.... and bombardino'clock Madeye-Smiley
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
WeiB.beer wrote:
Schuss in Boots wrote:
WeiB.beer, Glad you enjoyed it Very Happy With your new found knowledge I hope you didn't look back on the waxing party and spot my deliberate mistakes wink Toofy Grin


Talking of deliberate mistakes, i'm sure Jon missed out the particular lubrication stage you enjoyed most, I think it was called the "gin stage" Laughing Laughing

I'm looking forward to sharing a few drinky-poos with yourself and Mark in Arabba!


Be warned, Bootsie doesn't like sharing her drink Toofy Grin

Likewise - looking forward to catching up WeiB.beer Very Happy
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
I do have to say the course is brilliant.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Recommended snowHead
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Another +1 for spyderjon,

called in on Monday when I was travelling down south. Loved every minute of the training and would have loved to have chatted longer afterwards but had to get to london. I felt a bit rude rushing off and would have picked his brains on the kit etc.

I'll be digging the dvd out and ordering some kit next week including the Jaws of Beast ski vice set
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
If I can resurrect this thread my mate and myself attended Jon’s course a week or so ago I can only thank Jon for his attention and the expertise he passed onto us, nothing was too much trouble having watched a few ‘youtube experts’ over the years I was confused and in some cases horrified at the methods suggested by them (would you take a file to your base edges?)

Jon explained the techniques he uses and the reasoning behind them in a clear and concise manner gave me confidence in the tools he uses and the results to expect and enabled me to repair some damage from my last ski trip. He also advised us on some of the intricacies of ski-binding adjustment which I have always regarded as something of a black art I think I understand forward pressure now.

The course is well worth attending it will not turn you into a magic skier overnight but with improved tools I hope to progress a little more.
A final bit of advice leave the credit card at home you may end up with a few more tools than you anticipated. Happy sharpening and waxing.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Sounds great. How much does the course cost?
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https://www.thepisteoffice.com/index.php/the-piste-office-store/tuning-technician-tuition/diy-tuning-lesson-detail.html

@bambionskiis Info is from Jon's website
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@jaxskis, snowHead not just tools, I also came away from mine with new bindings fitted!
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